Louisiana man arrested in Escambia County, accused of luring a minor for sex
ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — A Louisiana man is in the Escambia County Jail after he allegedly attempted to lure a minor for sex, according to an arrest affidavit.
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Patrick Jay Dehnel, 33, of Slidell, Louisiana, was arrested Wednesday and is charged with two counts of obscene communication, public order crimes and cruelty toward a child.
During a Florida Department of Law Enforcement online operation, Dehnel was allegedly found soliciting a person he believed to be 14 years of age to commit a sexual act.
Dehnel allegedly began a conversation on Sunday with an online account operated by a special agent. The agent informed Dehnel that the account he was communicating with belonged to a 14-year-old girl.
According to the arrest affidavit, Dehnel allegedly referred to the 14-year-old girl with graphic terms and solicited her to commit sexual acts with him. Dehnel later stated he was working at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Pensacola for a few days and staying in a hotel on Davis Highway, the affidavit said.
Dehnel provided his phone number to the 14-year-old girl and allegedly requested she send him a video of herself urinating. He also allegedly asked the girl to send him graphic pictures of herself and asked her to perform oral sex on him.
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According to the report, Dehnel sent a graphic photo of himself to the agent, posing as the teenage girl. The report said Dehnel indicated he wanted to meet the girl and take her back to his hotel room.
FDLE agents sent Dehnel to a pre-determined location on Tuesday to meet the girl he was speaking with. He reportedly said he would meet the girl there in a red Ford truck, where law enforcement officers were waiting, but he never showed up.
An FDLE agent contacted the Resident in Charge of the Veterans Affairs hospital on Wednesday and learned he was working there.
Agents showed up at the hospital, detained Dehnel and interviewed him in a room at the hospital.
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Dehnel reportedly admitted he was the only one using his cellphone and said he communicated with the girl sexually and sent her an explicit photo.
The report said Dehnel told agents he traveled to the pre-determined location to meet the girl on Tuesday, but he was driving a white-colored work pickup truck instead of a red truck.
Dehnel gave the agent consent to search his phone, and the agent saw the text messages between Dehnel and the “girl.”
After his arrest, Dehnel was originally given no bond pending first appearance, but the Escambia County Jail log shows a bond totaling $37,500.
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